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Is this any way to run a newspaper? For 21 years weve dished out a weekly barrage of information you cant find anywhere else in this town. And you, dear readers, seem to like our lively mix of politics, investigative reporting, opinion, arts, entertainment and humor. Your loyalty has pushed us up the ranks to become the sixth highest circulation newspaper in the state, according to the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. This week we celebrate our 21st anniversary with a complete redesign of our paper, a big FREE party for the community (see Calendar) and a far out issue predicting what Eugene is likely to look like 21 years from now. Remember, you read it here first. Heres what weve been up to lately: EW began as a way to let you know whats happening in your community and to create jobs in economically difficult times. Our newspaper has expanded and evolved to become much more than a calendar of events. Today EW is a unique force for change in the community. Our award-winning reporting affects turnout at events, stimulates civic action, and even sways elections. And what could be a better read than our letters to the editor! Were printing nearly 37,000 newspapers a week now, up from 31,500 last year at this time. Independent auditing (Media Audit) surveyed Lane County last May and found that 47,500 people read us every week, and about 78,000 people pick us up regularly. In addition we have several thousand Corvallis and Albany readers who are not counted. Our shiny new red metal boxes are in big demand. Our readers are more mature, more affluent and better educated compared to consumers of other local media. Some 53 percent of our readers are female, the median age is 40.5, average household income is $42,000, and 67 percent have at least some college education. Nearly a third are in professional or managerial careers. Other print and broadcast media in town appear to be struggling with reduced revenues. Last year The Register-Guard reported reductions of about 35 positions over 18 months, and The Business News even went out of business. But EW has been growing steadily in both circulation and revenues, and the recent economic downturn has not slowed us down. Our ad sales at the end of 2001 were $1,179,000, and at the end of 2002 wed grown our revenues to $1,248,000. This is due in large part to the loyalty of our many small advertisers and gains weve made in recruiting new advertisers, such as classified auto ads. Were on target to generate $1.5 million this year in advertising revenues, but for the past 21 years, nearly every dollar that has come in to EW has gone out to cover expenses, and any profits have been reinvested in the company. In our efforts to pay living wages to our 23 employees, our payroll has gone up every year along with other expenses. Our printing costs are growing as we print more papers per week and more pages per paper. We also hired our first full-time circulation manager this past year. Health insurance premiums for our employees continues to inflate, 22 percent this year alone. By reducing our management expenses and other costs and by generating new revenues, we were able to make significant progress in employee benefits this past year, going way beyond health insurance and free breakfasts on Wednesdays. Since the beginning of 2002 we have implemented a 401K retirement plan, subsidized childcare and health club benefits, paid maternity/paternity benefits, two weeks vacation during the first year of employment (up to five weeks for long-time employees), and the beginnings of a profit sharing plan. With the growing popularity of our website (25,000 hits each week), we cant help but wonder what kind of paper we will be publishing in 2024. Regardless of how its presented, good, solid local news and views will always be in high demand. We intend to be there to provide it. Thank you all for your on-going support. TJT
We had an emergency evacuation of the Capitol this week. Hundreds of lobbyists and legislators (see below) ran screaming from the building. No, it wasnt anthrax, smallpox or sarin gas. It was a report by The Oregonian that the Oregon House will require lobbyists and public officials to sign an oath not to lie when they testify in front of a committee. Witness registration sheets will now carry a notice forbidding any false statement or misrepresentation. I guess we wont see much of Sizemore or McIntire this session. By the time you read this, youll know if Measure 28 passed. If it did, our 2003-05 state budget is only short $1.4 billion; if it fails, $1.7 billion. But, not to worry. Into this valley of sturm and drang rode the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Reps. Kruse, Kropf, Close and Doyle they have a plan to balance the budget without doing any harm to schools, public safety, state police or human services. They even held a press conference last week to tell us so. The problem is: Theyve got to keep the actual plan a secret until after Measure 28 fails, otherwise those Salem bureaucrats will simply steal the money. But you gotta love the chutzpah of Dan Doyle: He comes out and says the cuts in HB5100 that the Legislature proposed are an intolerable manipulation of the public to force a yes vote for Measure 28 after he voted for them! Only a lawyer could appreciate this logic. But I guess this gives me an out in another arena: I hereby announce that I have a plan to magically solve the PERS dilemma, known as the stock market crash, but I cant tell you what it is. Wolves at the door. My Senate committees began hearings last week. I didnt serve on Ag and Natural Resources last session, but when I walked into my first meeting, it felt like nothing had changed from the three previous sessions. Instead of the cougar issues that predominated then, now were talking about wolves. Fish and Wildlife Chief Lindsay Ball told us about the first 1999 sightings of wolves in Oregon that had strayed over the Idaho border. Since its estimated that 100 new wolf pups will appear this spring, Lindsays concerned that we dont have appropriate laws on the books to deal with this issue. We had a policy to remove wolves, but they were listed as endangered, although landowners can shoot wolves who eat livestock. We may also hear another takings bill, the son of Measure 7 that reimburses landowners when land use or natural resource regulations impact the value of their property. The Measure 7 advocates do have a point, though. We were told about a conscientious landowner on the coast who went through years of creating a trade with the U.S. Forest Service when spotted owls were discovered on her land that was to be logged. She did the right thing, traded her land to keep it safe for the owls, only to find out that the land she traded for had a bald eagle nest. Theres gotta be a more reasonable way to deal with these issues. But its probably a secret. Game farms, those cute little places where owners grow non-indigenous species so that hunters can kill them in canned hunts, are up again. A ranch in Eastern Oregon that raises imported elk turned up with cervid tuberculosis that could be fatal to cattle. The solution: HB2209, to allow the hunting of game animals and birds from aircraft to control disease. That might be fun, if you think about it. Theres a couple of aforementioned bipedal hominids on horseback that come to mind. And Im nervous about a new legislative draft that would move the authority from ODFW to DEQ to deal with the placement of explosives in Oregons waterways. Im just not sure DEQ bureaucrats will be as sensitive to my fishing practices as the ODFW biologists. Sorry, got to go now. Jeannie wants me up in the horse stalls with a pitchfork more on-the-job training for legislators. Happy trails. Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove represents portions of Lane and Douglas counties in Senate District 4, which includes the UO area. He can be reached at corcoran.sen@state.or.us
Seasoned and skeptical shoppers like us go on red alert in December. But all year long our anxieties abide when we think about Eugenes small merchants and the marching beat of box stores. So we set out the first week of the new year to do some comparison shopping Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, Meier Frank, and some local retail shops. We wanted to compare not just cost but subjective pulls on our money and time, ease of getting to and from, service, and choices. At our first stop, Wal-Mart, we ran into a wall of questions. For what seems like the obvious price Wal-Mart is hard to beat. Lively patterned rayon skirts from India: $7.99; soft cotton T-shirts: $3.79, chewing gum: $.84. For convenience these monoliths make it easy for young families who have to cart their kids to the store. What more do we need to know than that? We need to know the real costs. Even if we let lawsuits settle how much of these costs Wal-Mart workers and their families bear, there are the indirect costs that the community bears, such as the oil from the Middle East spent in getting the goods to Eugene, building and paving the roads, the squeeze on local businesses, and fewer choices for consumers. We do note that elsewhere well-to-do women can buy fashionable, locally made clothes, but for prices that most low to middle income families cannot afford. For children, affordable clothing was once an option, but for men, locally made clothes have rarely been available. Should those of us who say we never shop at big box stores care? Should we take any responsibility for the hidden costs? In our long range self-interest, we propose an alternative that is possible and doable, if not necessarily easy. Why not use the CSA model Community Sustainable (or Supported) Agriculture? CSA supports the idea that people are better off if they eat vegetables and fruits grown locally. Locally grown foods have low shipping costs and buying locally supports local entrepreneurs, called farmers! In CSA programs, people contract with growers, paying a set amount at the beginning of the season for a weekly supply of freshly grown food. We dont propose that it is practical or even desirable that we pay a set amount for clothes or hardware and other goods we buy at big box stores, nor that we can buy all we need locally. But there are features of CSA that are analogous. For instance: We could more directly influence what is being produced. We could more directly benefit the producers who are, in fact, our neighbors. We could reduce shipping costs and their attendant pressure on the communitys infrastructure. We could become more sensitive to the quantity of goods that we indulge ourselves with. How might this come about? What if price tags were calculated to reflect the real costs of merchandise shipped from afar, e.g. oil, roads, air quality? What if city and county resources directly supported small retailers and manufacturers with tax breaks and scaled-to-size building regulations? Suppose city and county leaders thought big by planning small, encouraging us by example and argument to shop at stores that handle locally made products? What if state of the city, county, neighborhood reports included such encouragement? Imagine if community sustainable retail voices were systemically represented in community planning? We do not pretend that we can or want to exist without products from all over the world. We enjoy that variety and richness. We want others to prosper. But we also want to manage our limited time and space better, before we have no time and space to manage. Were responsible for this particular piece of ground. Its not as if were talking about North America. Eugene-Springfield is a manageable piece of ground that we must manage well. Its possible to create here on these 36,313 acres a community where childrens jackets keep them warm without borrowing from their futures; where buyers and sellers recognize their joint interests; where our streets and centers satisfy our aesthetic needs. Laurel Fisher taught humanities at South Eugene High and has been active in the Arts Foundation of Western Oregon, Lane Arts Council, the Eugene Library Foundation and the Eugene City Club. Hannah Wilson taught English and humanities in Eugene schools, now writes poetry and fiction, and is active in Eugenes writing community
SANCTITY OF LIFE The irony of George W. Bush declaring a National Sanctity of Life Day, while he prepares to slaughter the people of Iraq, would be comedic if it werent so horrific. The utter gall of this hypocritical pronouncement shocks even my already numbed truth-is-the-first-casualty-of-war sensibilities. What life is Bush talking about? Certainly not the lives of the thousands of innocent Afghanis killed by our errant smart bombs. Certainly not the lives of American soldiers Bush is sending into a war for oil. Is it the lives of those enemies who Bush has labeled open for assassination? Were the lives of the six alleged al-Qaeda members, killed by remote control in Yemen without trial or jury, sanctified in some way? Perhaps Bush meant the lives of 500,000 Iraqi children, who according to U.N. documents have died as a direct result of our sanctions. Or the unnamed, unnumbered Iraqi soldiers buried alive with bulldozers during the first Gulf war while they tried to surrender. To whom does Bush apply this sanctity he proclaims? Sanctity of life indeed. Such noble words ooze from Bushs lips like sewage from a ruptured septic tank. No lie seems too bold for this man. No hypocrisy seems too blatant for him to trumpet from his bullying pulpit. No shame seems to impose itself on his conscience. Thousands of Iraqis will soon die at the command of this sanctity of life president. The American union itself will be lucky if it survives his hypocritical rule. Ken Zimmerman FIRST CITIZEN? Alan Pittmans article on big business control of the city bureaucracy reverberates in another papers story that begins: Veteran Eugene business executive Randy Pape has been named Eugenes First Citizen for 2002. Says who? The Eugene Chamber of Commerce. Randys business and personal attributes may deserve recognition in the business context, but instead the Chamber brainwashes the public by clothing the award with a general, generic label, Eugenes First Citizen. Pape belongs in back of the pack when one considers such selfless citizens as Peg Morton for her work against the School of the Americas; Hope Marston for guiding the successful effort of Eugene to challenge the PATRIOT Act; and Larry Perry for leading the Common Cause effort to get bribery out of our elections. The award is part of a Chamber PR campaign. It also co-authors a Customer Service Report for how to replace criticism of overbearing businesses with a more business friendly attitude in Eugenes city offices. Ironic, especially when one remembers how foolishly friendly the city has been to the polluting Hyundai, which even changed its name to escape notoriety. Then a new city councilor, Jennifer Solomon, blatantly served the Chambers conservative interests by ignoring the traditional process for naming council officers. Bonnie Bettman, labeled a progressive, was in line to be vice president, but Solomon joined the conservative majority to bypass Bettman and give the position to the business-oriented Nancy Nathanson. If she had some valid rationale for her decision, she didnt enunciate it. But it wasnt needed when one recalls that Solomon has been part of the negative side of big business since she was one of the Gang of 9. George Beres
UNIVERSITY
TAKEOVER This area has been a haven for low-income university students and their families. Without the low rent housing in this neighborhood, thousands of past university families could not have afforded the education they sought. This affordable housing sheltered my family as my husband and I pursued our degrees in the 1970s. The neighborhood was a beautiful and safe place for students and children alike. Cars were not needed because of the proximity to the university. It was all there for us then, and still is for the families who have even harsher economic factors to face today. I sincerely hope that those who love the old way of life, the old houses and the car-free environment will fight for it. This support is necessary to sustain the traditional core values of higher education and civic conscience. M. L. Walden
FORKING
IT OVER There may be some fuzzy math at work here unless one is required to submit a check to the IRS equal to ones entire income. Under the current tax code Mr. Duke is allowed to retain some portion of his income. Unless, perhaps, the reparations folks have managed to put the bite on the old Klansman, requiring him to fork over every cent he has. Tom Tracey
CURTAILED
LIBERTIES Where were these networks, which are so concerned with the rights corporations deserve, when our government decided to curtail the liberties of people living in this country? Why is it that a company like Nike gets a team of lawyers to defend the right to lie, while people are afraid to speak their minds for fear of being placed on a list? Nonviolent activists are being harassed for telling the truth, as Nike gets afforded extra protection so that they can sell their overpriced shoes with lies. There is a problem when dissenting voices get silenced, while a socially irresponsible corporation is closer to gaining the rights needed to mislead, and continue its campaign of slavery and injustice. Rethink your consumption. Just do it. Dont buy Nike. Ray Cole
ROGUE
NATION Meantime, back on the hill, our fiscally irresponsible congress assumes the plutocratic position by grabbing their slice of the deficit spending with $4,000 raises while federal employees have their pay frozen. Talk about a disgusting display of arrogance! The rich get richer and the poor help them do it. Would this situation change if the nonvoting silent majority of our country could be aroused from their apathetic trance? Heres one vote for hope. Chris Hallett
AGENDA
ON-TRACK This progress came in spite of Democrat obstruction and delays. With President Bushs leadership and the new leadership by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the compassionate conservative agenda is on track, and I am excited about what the new Republican majorities will be able to accomplish in the year to come. John F. Marten
RIGHTS
OF WAY To set the matter straight, however, it is not illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk in Oregon. To my knowledge, it is only illegal to ride on the sidewalk in Eugene: 1) on 13th Avenue between Kincaid and Patterson; and 2) along what used to be the pedestrian mall. The problem, however, is that people tend to only think of their wants and needs when using public space. Automobile drivers are unwilling to give bicyclists their legal right to take up entire lanes if needed, change lanes to make turns, etc. Bicyclists are rightfully afraid to ride on the street, but do not slow down for pedestrians, use lights at night, or even wear helmets (all required by law). Pedestrians blithely walk down paths ignoring that they share the lane with other users (my experience is that the best way to hit a ped is to tell them you are coming they always jump right in front of you). What I believe is needed is for people to realize that they share public space with others, and vindictive righteousness/road rage only leads to bringing down everyone involved. Of course, if everyone shared the public right-of-ways, then one could walk down the street without being afraid of getting hit. Hmmm. Doak, I hope I see you at Critical Mass. Tom Powers
BALDING
NATION One week later I went to the Olympic National Park in Washington. Even worse, the whole green peninsula around the park is bald or tree-farmed. No native forests left. As I got closer to the entrance gate of the Hoh rainforest the trees started getting bigger and full with old moss. I was so excited to be in this mystical rainforest. But then just two miles before the entrance, stretching from the road all the way up the hill, a nasty clearcut killed my mood. I am leaving with a sad and depressed feeling. I ask myself and you, how long will these few pieces of untouched native forest still be standing? We have no old-growth forests left in Europe. I came here to see some of the worlds oldest and biggest trees and wild untouched forests. The sad reality is that the American government does not care. Money is more important to them than their unique and magic nature. I am very disappointed and I have been showing the pictures of beautiful forests and ugly clearcuts to all my friends and family. I tell them what is happening here and let it be their choice whether they still want to come to America or not. Sylvia Bigontina
CONSTRUCTING
TRUTH Wadsworth is correct in her assertion that the very act of Moore constructing this film, which is influenced by his own conceptions and personal ideologies, is just that, a construction of the truth. Wadsworth states that the film is a bombardment of images (it is hard to find something that isnt these days) and half-truths that leave viewers feeling helpless and hopeless. I dont know about you, but when I left the theater, I did not feel helpless and hopeless, I felt sobered by the fact that someone had the courage to show what the mainstream media claims as the truth. Wadsworth is right that the film does not show the entire truth. However, that is another point Moore strives to make, to question what the truth really is? Whos truth are we talking about when we say truth, news, or reality? Mine? Yours? Ms. Wadsworths? Michael Moores? Hillary Lake
ECONOMIC
UPRISING True, there are various factions of Arab and other Asian and African zealots who want no part of our imperial extensions and have brought the point home to us with vigorous drama. Still, the jails are full and growing, not all defined or limited by steel, concrete, sham overt justice or mere geography. Wheres the rub? When not too dispirited, I still have a wonderland of great books, good film, novel art, consuming and sustaining romance before me. Its not enough. Only the end of the nightmare will be enough. Thats why I become appreciative when I read of economic boycotts such as that proposed by Shannon Wilson (12/12). In massive tax resistance and committed economic non-participation theres hope. The problem is, Wilson needs to realize more fully that theres a world of difference between the mass economic uprising that led to imperial Indias independence and the practice of simple living in which many EW readers already indulge. Thoroughgoing economic disruption is a great irritant to imperial tyranny, but it needs to move far beyond the self-satisfied frugality of very local centers of resistance. John A. Hickam
RIGHTS
WRONGED Our Bill of Rights was the first document in history to establish specific rights by and for the common citizen. Many of these rights have now been undone. Our right to be secure in person, our right to privacy in our own homes, our right to be free of search and seizure, our right to assemble, and our right to due process have been marginalized. I believe that this is a giant step toward living under the boot heel of fascism. That being said, it is entirely appropriate that George II is allowing convicted felon John Poindexter to establish the TIA Network. This is a man who explicitly defiled Congress and illegally sold arms to the Ayatollhahs henchmen to illegally fund the Nicaraguan Contra death squads. He is complicit in if not accomplice to the mass murder of Central American citizens fighting for their own independence from an American corporate-backed tyranny. Given this invasion of our rights, shouldnt all of those who voted for the HSA be charged with treason? They abrogated their sworn oaths to uphold the Constitution by giving war-making powers to the president. What is left of our Constitution allows and encourages us to change our form of government at our will. Is anyone else ready? I believe this administration is guilty of treason against the state. Kenneth A. Wilson
TRUE
FEAR D.G. McDougal
ALIENS
SAY But if Bush wins the election of 2004, it will be a signal that the book 1984 was only 20 years off, and fascist doom is inevitable. If he loses, it will be a signal that humans still have a chance of finding a path aligned with universal reality and human survival. If it is good for the United States to have atomic and other weapons of mass destruction, it is also good for Iraq, Iran and North Korea to have them; and if it is evil for Iraq, Iran and North Korea to have them, it is also evil for the U.S. to have them. Tit for tat, and shit for shat. Aliens say: What a strange insanity these humans have blowing each others feet off with bombs hidden in the dirt and dropping bombs on each other from flying aluminum tubes and burning up their toxic buildings up with religious tubes full of fuel. Bob Saxton
STRONGEST
RESPONSE Why would anyone assume that peaceful demonstration is akin to politely asking oppressors to please stop the war? Lets be realistic: The one real advantage we have in the struggle for peace is that most people do not want any war. However, they are not sufficiently organized nor aware enough to realize their inherent free will and power. People, in general, naturally desire to be a part of a world free of violent oppression. Thus, an effort rooted in nonviolence is overwhelmingly positive and inclusive, and has its own meaning that creates in every moment the kind of world we want. If you want to justify violent uprising with historical precedents, then I will find you one hundred times more precedents where violent confrontation has only fueled more brutality and destruction. A nonviolent stand is not weak or timid it is brave and noble, for it requires far more strength to make yourself vulnerable to violence, knowing you will not take part in a broader, vicious cycle, but knowing you are creating a microcosm of peace that has immeasurable and substantial influences down the line. Nonviolence is the only solution that everyone can take part in. And it is the strength of our sizeable majority that will prevail against war and oppression in the end. We must go to war to create peace, is the same rhetoric used justify too many terrible things. How much damage must be done before one realizes it doesnt work? David Caruso
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